5. When God Loves Your Enemies
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Welcome to part five, and the conclusion of Jonah, The Story of You. Throughout this series, we have taken a deep dive into this Old Testament book to first of all redeem it from the children’s section of books and from talking vegetables. This is not some sad story about a guy who got swallowed by a whale. This is a story about God’s amazing grace and how we really have not comprehension as to what grace is all about. That is why Jonah isn’t just about an disobedient prophet, it’s also your story and my story…I think you will see that very clearly is what we are going to focus in on today.
If you have a Bible or device, I want you to find Jonah chapter four. If you are using the YouVersion Bible app, go to Events, look for Iowa City Church and all of the Scriptures and Notes should pop up on your device.
I want you to think about a person or a people group that you don’t like. Before you even think about saying that you love everyone, remember, you are sitting in church!
Who is it? An ex. Family member. Co-worker. Neighbor. A class of people. Political party of people. I need you to identify someone because God wants to teach you something about himself, through them.
Okay, let’s dive into chapter four. Here’s some quick background. Jonah is a prophet of God. God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, and tell them they need to change their brutal and evil ways. Jonah wants nothing to do with this mission because, the Assyrians are his enemies. Instead Jonah flees as far away as possible on a ship. God in his amazing grace chases him down with a great storm and then a great fish. Jonah realizes God’s mercy and agrees to go to Nineveh. Upon entering Nineveh, and preaching a very brief sermon, the Ninevites, even the King is convicted and they repent…and God relents.
Here is how Jonah responds.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.
One would think Jonah would be excited. His message worked. There was change and reform taking place. Instead, he determined that this was wrong, bad or even evil. People turning to God and repenting…evil? Not only that, he becomes angry!
How much did Jonah hate these Ninevites? Now, of course, you’ve never become angry when something God happened to your enemy…right? Have you ever stopped and considered that maybe one of the reasons you don’t share your faith, pray for or serve your enemies…is exactly the same reason why Jonah was so upset. He didn’t want the Ninevites to repent and experience mercy…he wanted them to burn.
He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Notice how different this prayer is as compared to the one Jonah prayed while in the belly of the fish.
At least he’s being honest with God. He’s playing his hand very clearly. The reason he ran from God was because he knew the character of God.
When he says:
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
Jonah is referencing one of the most referenced and quoted verse in the Old Testament. It’s actually one you need to highlight in your Bibles as well.
Here’s the back story, and then I’ll share the verse with you. God has rescued Israel from slavery. He’s brought them out into the wilderness where he has just entered into a covenant relationship with them, where one of the vows of the covenant is that Israel is to have no other gods before God. Before the ceremony is even over Israel is worshipping a golden calf.
Long story, short…God relents. Moses chisels out two new stone tablets, and then God says these words about himself.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
A beautiful, extremely helpful description of God. He is slow to anger. Compassionate. Forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
Jonah knew his Torah. He knew the Scriptures. Here’s what Jonah is experiencing and something we struggle with as well: Forgiveness and grace feel really good when it’s directed at us. It doesn’t feel so good when it’s directed toward our enemies.
Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about when it comes to forgiveness. I want to share with you how one person’s act of forgiveness can sometimes move an entire nation.
On Sunday, November 8, 1987, Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter Marie were laying a wreath for the war dead at Enniskillen in Northern Ireland when a bomb exploded. If your unfamiliar with Ireland in 1987 they were still under British authority. The Irish Republic Army was trying to change that. It was the IRA who was responsible for bombing in Enniskillen.
Wilson lay buried under several feet of rubble, fumbling for his glasses, his shoulder dislocated. His daughter lay beside him dying. Later that evening, in an interview with the BBC, Wilson described with anguish his last conversation with his daughter and his feelings toward her killers:
“She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, ‘Daddy, I love you very much.’ Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say.” To the astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, “But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. I shall pray for those people [IRA bombers] tonight and every night. May God forgive them.”
As historian Jonathan Bardon recounts, “No words in more than twenty-five years of violence in Northern Ireland have had such a powerful, emotional impact.” In a few words, Gordon Wilson had spoken for all those on both sides who had lost family and friends – and had furthered for many the slow painful process of healing.
Gordon Wilson was a devout follower of Jesus. One year later, he organized a meeting with IRA leaders. When Ireland got their independence, he was elected a Senator. His act of forgiveness was viewed as a tipping point moment for all sides of the conflict.
Here’s what’s crazy. Gordon Wilson received bags and bags of hate mail. People from both sides couldn’t believe what he was even doing, even calling him confused or in shock.
Forgiveness, and grace are powerful acts that have the potential to change lives, you should know. Grace and forgiveness are positioned at the very center of the gospel message. You see Jesus became king by…brace yourself, by dying for enemies. I’m assuming that your lives have all been changed by the power of God loving his enemies.
We are very fond of grace and forgiveness, but do we want it for our enemies?
Jonah hates forgiveness for his enemies so much that he wants to die…it’s so strange.
God now tries three different times to help teach Jonah about grace and forgiveness.
Here’s the first one.
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
First attempt. God asks Jonah if he has any right to be angry. Nothing. Crickets. Jonah completely ignores God. Let’s look at the second attempt.
Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
Jonah goes out to the east side of the city and makes himself a shelter—and he waits. What do you suppose he is waiting for? One likely guess is that Jonah is waiting for God to maybe change his mind and nuke Nineveh.
Keep in mind Jonah is waiting in the sun in what is modern day Iraq. It’s not super comfortable. God then shows Jonah another act of mercy, he provides this plant which gives Jonah shade, and for once in the entire story Jonah is what? Happy!
However, the next day God provides a worm which chews the plant and the plant withers. Not only that a scorching wind partners with the blazing sun to make Jonah miserable, and again, Jonah wants to die. God again tries to teach Jonah about grace and forgiveness. God asks if Jonah has any right to be angry about something Jonah had no control over. He didn’t nurture the plant. He didn’t cause it to grow. He literally had nothing to do with it. Why should he be so angry over what God wanted to do according to his own will?
God is going to do what God is going to do. He is going to forgive who he is going to forgive. He’s going to show grace to who he is going to show grace to. He is going to grow plants and cause them to wither. Jonah wants nothing to do with God’s will. Instead, he wants to die again!
God tries one more time.
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
God makes a very powerful point to Jonah. Look at the comparison. Highlight the word “concerned”. It can also mean, show compassion or have pity. God’s point is that Jonah has compassion over a plant he had nothing to do with. It was alive and then gone. God asks, “Why can’t I be “concerned” (same word) over a hundred and twenty people and animals. Jonah knows that people, created in the image of God are much more valuable then a plant. These people don’t know their right from their left. In other words they don’t have a moral compass. They are completely unaware of how to live their lives. The strange ending of referencing animals, the word literally means cattle, might mean that the people are living like animals, living according to instincts and not living as humans.
But the point is that God cares about these wayward humans and their cattle. He is going to show them grace and forgiveness because they are turning to him. And then it ends. What a strange ending right? We don’t know what happens with Jonah. We don’t know if he had a change of heart.
Many of you have expressed some frustration with this ending. I get it. But this is why the author of Jonah or if it’s Jonah himself is brilliant. Jonah is a minor prophet because it’s supposed to teach us something. What is it? You are Jonah. We don’t know what Jonah does because the ball is in your court. What are you going to do?
As followers of Jesus, there are two important teachings that he not only teaches, but he models for his followers: loving our enemies and forgiving those who sin against us.
Things always get quite and uncomfortable when these two teachings come up. Have you ever stopped to think about why this is so important? Let me share with you an insight I picked up from Bible Project contributor, Tim Mackey.
How many of you have a difficult person in your life?
“Have you ever stopped to consider that the difficult person is in your life as a divine invitation for you to grow and mature in God’s grace. Not just receiving his grace, but sharing it.” ~ Tim Mackey
The grace and forgiveness God showed the Ninevites revealed how disconnected Jonah was from God. How you treat your enemies or those who are difficult in your life reveal how well you are connected to God.
Think of it this way: Our friends rarely, if ever, show us our weakness. Our enemies, expose our biggest flaws.
So consider this question: Is it possible that our enemies may very well be our best path to experiencing God?
Here is an exercise I want you to take some time and do this week:
Read Jonah 4.
Sit down with a blank piece of paper. Think of a person your do not like. Write down all of the character traits you don’t like about that person.
Then, look over the list and ask yourself this question: Have I ever done that?
If you have…then you are Jonah.
But here’s where things get interesting: You have an opportunity to finish the Jonah story, because it’s your story. You can extend grace and forgiveness or continue to think it’s only for you. The choice is up to you.